American Buddhist Perspectives
Such is the news from Joshua Eaton (website) today. Radio Free Asia states that “The burnings take place as Chinese authorities violently suppress a Tibetan student demonstration.”
And As I wrote just over a week ago:
The news regarding Tibetan self-immolations speaks for itself:
British Buddhist monk self-immolates at French monastery (Nov 16)
Tibetan boy, 14, dies in self-immolation (Nov 15)
2 Tibetans Dead After Self-Immolation Protests(Nov 15)
Slowly but surely these deaths are making their way into the mainstream media. But these aren’t the fifth or sixth or even tenth or eleventh cases of self-immolation. According to writer and activist Joshua Eaton, there have been 74 self-immolations inside Tibet alone since 2009 (names, dates, etc here).
China’s response? Massive surveillance and guards with fire extinguishers.
Everyone else’s response: mostly nothing.
That number is now 85 and there is still virtually zero international response.
CNN’s recent story, “How many more Tibetans will sacrifice themselves?” is virtually contemptible, leading with a video contrasting scenes of “unverifiable” self-immolations protesting “what they call” religious and cultural repression on the one hand and staged state television clips of “ethnic unity and harmony” as the narrator, Steven Jiang, claims that Tibetans are “thanking the ruling Communist party for policies they say have improved their daily lives.” When the Chinese government is widely known for its relatively open propagandizing (more on the 50 Cent Party via wiki), the qualifiers “unverifiable” and “so called” should be ahead of their (the government’s) statements, not those made by activists and human rights groups.
Come on, CNN, you can do better, much better.
According to the Albany Tribune today, a large demonstration, estimated at 1000 people was also violently broken up today by Chinese police in NE Tibet, sending 20 Tibetans to the hospital.
Radio Free Asia also comments, concerning the net:
Netizens
News of the Tibetan self-immolations have been spreading rapidly among China’s massive netizen community in recent weeks, a New York-based rights group said.
“Chinese netizens have helped spread reports of Tibetan self-immolations online and expressed their concerns by posting comments on Twitter,” Human Rights in China said in a statement.
“They have done so despite intensified government crackdowns and Internet censorship in the lead-up to and during the 18th [ruling Chinese Communist] Party Congress,” it said.
For those interested in getting involved or finding out more:
Visit the Students for a Free Tibet here:
https://www.studentsforafreetibet.org/
or on facebook here:
https://www.facebook.com/StudentsforaFreeTibet
SFT in the UK:
And the blog for SFT in India:
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